Arthur Bradford (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Arthur Bradford | ||
| Date of birth | 3 July 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Walsall, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 April 1944 (aged 41) | ||
| Place of death | Southampton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Half back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bloxwich All Saints | |||
| – | Talbot Stead Tubeworks | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1922–1936 | Southampton | 306 | (6) |
| 1936–1937 | Cowes Sports | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
James Arthur Bradford (3 July 1902 – 13 April 1944) was an English footballer who played his entire professional career (from 1922 to 1936) as a half back with Southampton. He was one of the "Saints"' most loyal players ever.
Bradford was born in Walsall and played his youth football with Bloxwich All Saints, before joining the Talbot Stead Tube works team (from which Ted Hough was signed in October 1921) where he was spotted by scouts from Southampton and offered a trial. After a successful trial he signed a professional contract in September 1922 but didn't make his first team debut until 18 April 1924 in a Second Division match at Crystal Palace, replacing Bill Turner at centre half.
He spent the first half of the following season in the reserves until mid-February when he was called into the team at left half (with George Harkus moving forward), and retained his place for the rest of the season. For the 1925–26 season he played approximately half of the league games and scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 victory over Fulham on 10 April 1925. He missed most of the following season, unable to break into the established half-back line of Bert Shelley, George Harkus and Stan Woodhouse.
From 1927–28 onwards he was more regularly selected by manager Arthur Chadwick, often filling in at full back in place of Michael Keeping or Ted Hough. According to Holley & Chalk, he was "ideally built for a centre-back role (his) versatility was put to good use and in emergencies he would even play in goal". Midway through the 1929–30 season he was moved to right-back taking over from Hough for the rest of the season, retaining his place at right back for the following season, in which he missed only three matches.
...
Wikipedia